I Want You, Babe
by britishbeauty1603
Summary: Told mostly Ranger's POV. Stephanie's engaged to Morelli and gives Ranger the chance to step up. What happens when he lets her go? Babe HEA, I promise. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1 - The Beginning

_A/N: It's the holidays and I finally got round to starting that chapter fic that's been asking to be written! I'm thinking it's only going to be three or four chapters long at the moment, but we'll just wait and see. I hope you guys like it and I promise it isn't all sad! Please review with anything like pointers, ideas, what you liked, what you didn't like, where I could improve, etc. This has been published at 11pm so please excuse the mistakes._

_Standard disclaimer applies.  
Rating: T  
Spoilers: up to Takedown Twenty, just to be safe._

Chapter One - The Beginning

She begins to stir next to me and moans softly as she reaches out towards me, obviously sensing the heat from my naked body in her bed. I slowly slide out of the bed, allowing her hand to fall on the warm white sheet I was just lying on. She stops moving and sighs, settling back into a deep sleep.

I let out the breath I was holding and moved quietly around the messy bedroom. While searching for my discarded clothes, I started to worry about who exactly this woman was. There were pictures of her with multiple other females covered with equal amounts of god awful make up and wearing outfits Lula would have been proud of. There was a sickly amount of pink in the room and plush toys which made me wonder just how old this woman was. Judging from the room I would say at least eighteen. _Please God, let her be over eighteen._ I glanced at her lying face down on her bed, shoulder blades exposed, snoring softly.

Oh she was definitely over eighteen.

At least twenty years over eighteen.

Jesus Christ, what kind of chick did I pick up?

I grabbed my jacket on the way out of the small apartment, not looking back at the sleeping form I'd just abandoned. I closed the door softly and stepped into the elevator, hitting the ground floor button and leaning back against the mirrored interior. _What the fuck have I done? _

I checked the time on my watch and saw it was 0600 hours; my body clock hadn't failed me too badly. Maybe I could just sneak up to the control room on five and claim to have slept in and missed my morning workout? Who the fuck was I kidding? My men were the best of the best, they would know the second I turned up in the parking lot that I'd been out all night. Especially after the show I gave the men on the monitors last night in a rare moment of my control slipping.

I exited the elevator and searched the lot for my car. No car. Of course there isn't a car. We were both so drunk that neither of us could drive and got a cab here. How could I forget something like that? I got my phone out of my pocket to call a cab to take me back to the bar where I'd left it.

I pulled into my usual parking spot and angled out of my car. I could feel the eyes of the men on the monitors following me through the security camera. Knowing the rotation of the shifts by heart, I knew they would be the same guys that saw me last night. If word gets out that this happened, I'm gonna start having men volunteering for monitor duty just to have a chance of catching me doing the walk of shame.

_What the hell is wrong with you? These men are professionals and don't live to talk about their Boss. _

Who am I kidding? They gossip almost as much as the Burg.

I stepped into the elevator and fobbed my way up to seven to change into some non-wrinkled, non-cigarette and alcohol smelling clothes. My men are trained to be observant so this change of clothes won't fool them, but I'd like to make at least an effort to not be as obvious about my … indescression.

I walked into the lounge and took in the sight before me. The lamp was still smashed on the floor, as well as the table overturned. There was a dent in the wall too where the initial impact of the glass had left a mark before smashing and covering the wall in the amber liquid – now reduced only to a dark stain. Obviously Ella hadn't been in yet. I sighed, thinking I should probably clean up the glass, I can't expect Ella to clean up after my temper tantrum. _When did you start thinking like Stephanie? _Goddammit. I paid Ella well; it was her job to clean up after me! It's hardly slave labour.

I was getting changed and only had my cargos on when the door to my apartment opened without any warning. Only two people would do this and to be honest I didn't want to see either of them because that required an explanation of why my apartment was trashed.

"Boss?" Tank's voice travelled through the apartment.

"What?" I snapped back. From the sound of his voice I could tell he was worried and obviously taking in the scene of smashed and upturned furniture in front of him.

"… What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit," Tank's voice was suddenly a lot closer and made me jump a little. I hoped he didn't notice that he'd managed to shock me but judging from the small twitch of his lips I could tell he had but wasn't going to mention it. Wise man.

"It doesn't affect RangeMan so why is it any of your concern?" I asked, pulling on a second skin-like black t-shirt. I pushed past him out of my closet and into my bedroom to put my boots on.

"Because, unless you've forgotten, I'm more than just second in command to you."

"Tank, you know I don't swing that way," I said, trying to add a bit of humour to my life before he possibly killed me for avoiding the topic. I don't know what it is with my men but whenever something concerns _her_ they demand answers and explanations.

"Ranger the guys on monitors saw you leave at 2300 hours last night, drive to a bar and unless you stayed their all night, you then went to what I can only assume is a female companion's house. This was all after you destroyed your apartment, I assume, and kicked the crap out of the back of your Porsche," Tank wasn't always one for words but he said it like he was giving me a status report on a skip, not telling me how I spent my night. When I didn't respond he kept pushing. Only two people would keep pushing me when I gave them the silent treatment and one of them was standing in my doorway blocking my way to the lounge. "Please tell me you were with Stephanie and not some random drunk chick."

The mention of her name made my jaw clench and anger fill me. "You know damn well I wasn't with her," I said in a way that would make any other RangeMan employee run before I called them to the mats. But not Tank.

"I don't know _where_ you went! Your car was at the bar all night and then you drove it back here this morning!" He yelled.

"I don't have to explain my actions to you, Tank. You're not my wife, you're not my girlfriend, you're not my mother and you're sure as hell not my Boss, so move before I fire your sorry ass," I was starting to get pissed. He had no right to ask these things of me. I didn't ask him why he was dating a former ho who barely fit into her spandex and was for all I knew crazy as hell. So why was he asking me whether I spent the night with Stephanie?

"Right now you're not my boss and I'm not your second in command. Right now I'm your friend and I need to know why the sudden break down and your resentment towards Bomber," he said as I managed to push past him into the lounge to get my gun belt.

"Break down? Is that what we're calling it?"

Tank looked at me for a solid thirty seconds with his head tilted slightly, like he was trying to figure me out. I maintained eye contact and frowned when he nodded his head like it all made sense. "You know about her and the cop." He said as-matter-of-factly.

"Of course I know about her and the cop!" I said through clenched teeth. "Hell, her mother is probably having a fucking party!"

"Man, you know it was bound to happen sooner or later," he said to me, I shot him a glare and walked into kitchen to get something to eat.

"He's not right for her! He wants her to be a fucking housewife popping out kids for him on demand and making him dinner. He thinks she's shit at her job just because she falls over a few times and doesn't always get her skips first try. What kind of man tells the woman he loves that she's shit at the thing she does so well and then fucking _proposes _to her?! He just wants to see all the life and happiness drain out of her by shaping her into the woman he wants her to be!" I said louder than I meant to. I saw her jacket hanging over one of the breakfast stools and felt the need for her presence mixed with the anger I felt over the whole situation. "She doesn't want this. She never wanted this," I said quietly as I clenched my fists on the counter top and hung my head.

Tank was quiet from where he stood in the doorway of the kitchen. He watched me intently for a minute as I glared at the countertop. The image of her begging me for more as I took her on it flashed through my mind. "God-fucking-dammit!" I yelled and hit the countertop with my fist. I backed up and lent against the fridge as I covered my face with my hands. I was so exhausted.

I had thrown a goddamn temper tantrum like a five year old, fucked some random chick from a bar and now my head is pounding all because of Stephanie and the cop. I should have seen this coming. They'd been on and off again for years. Their last break was the longest ever and I had thoroughly enjoyed it. She was round at RangeMan more and more often, she didn't try to lose my shadows as much, and we were doing far more than just sharing kisses in the alley behind the bonds office. Thinking about that made me grind my molars. That's what had started all of this.

I had made my way back up to seven after hearing the news. I wasn't too mad, they had been engaged before and that didn't work out. But when I got into my apartment it had all began to sink in. My apartment still had some of her stuff in it. Her jacket was still on the back of the barstool from when she came to pick up some forms for her part-time employment at RangeMan, junk food for her in cupboards, toiletries that she'd left over the months in the bathroom. That's when I poured my drink. My drink collided with the wall when I walked into the bedroom and all I could see was those nights when her delicate sexy body was underneath me, begging and pleading for my attention. Now it would be underneath Morelli, forever.

At first, when they had got back together she had kept her distance. She had smiled at me pleasantly when we saw each other at the Bonds Office two days after she got back with Morelli but that was it for the rest of the week. But one day when she came in to do one of her three RangeMan shifts a week, she came into my office to say hi and she acted just as she used to. She flirted back at me and made no complaints when I told her to close the door and pulled her RangeMan t-shirt over her head and took her on my desk. This … thing we had, it was more than just casual sex, but it wasn't a relationship. Because she was in a relationship with Morelli.

We wouldn't just have sex and one of us leave. Afterwards, we would lie in bed and talk about nothing, or she would try to get on top of me and we would end up play fighting, or she would ask me about what to do with one of her harder skips, or I'd tell her one of the stories I was able to tell her about my time before I knew her as I played with her ringlets. Or we'd just lie there in each other's arms and kiss and nuzzle into each other. We had something more than just a friendship, but not a relationship. She would tell Morelli she was doing a distraction, or working on something at RangeMan, or hanging out with Lula for the night and would either return home to him in the morning or later that night.

Lula knew what was going on and I'd expected her to start yelling at me next time I saw her. But that day when I walked into the Bonds Office and it was just her there because Connie was out re-bonding someone and Vinnie was on a cruise, she didn't.

"_Sit down, Batman," She said calmly. Her hair was blonde and in braids with beads at the end. I never understood her hair… or her spandex for that matter. I couldn't see more than her orange spandex top behind the desk and judging by how tight that was, I didn't want to see the rest of it._

"_I have meetings to go to. I just needed to drop these off," I put the body receipts on the desk and began to walk out._

"_I said sit yo' ass down," she said sternly. I turned to look at her, my blank face hiding the shock I felt at her talking to me like that. Lula usually either fanned herself and drooled over me or tried to hide from me. "I know what you got goin' on with my girl," she said, I raised an eyebrow for her to continue. "I ain't saying what I got to say unless your, according to Stephanie, _perfect_ ass of yours is in that ugly couch here." _

_I smirked at Stephanie calling my ass perfect and sat down across from Lula on the couch. I maintained eye contact with her and waited for her to say what she had to say. She looked nervous now that she had my full attention. _

"_Stephanie cares abo- you close that goddamn mouth until I'm finished talking, you got it?" She said before I even got a syllable out. "I know you're gonna say some bullshit about how yo' life don't lend itself to relationships. I've heard that line before from her whenever I tell her you love her. And don't raise them perfect eyebrows at me, you pluck them or somethin'? Anyways, Its obvious you love her. Maybe not to her, but it is to me. Now, what you two are doing here is risky and I'm sure you both know it. I told her to dump the cop. She's been happier since she's started…whatever it is you two have, with you when she last broke it off with him. But she never listens to me. Now if y'all wanna continue with this now she's back on with him … I'll be a cover for her. It'll make your lives a lot easier since Morelli'd rather she spend time with _your_ new best friend Lula here, than you. But I want you to promise me something, you listening?" I nodded once. "And If you don't promise me then I'm going straight to the cop and I aint gonna do nothing to stop him from coming after you. I know you could probably go 'in the wind' or some shit, but he could ruin your company. And Stephanie tells me how hard you've worked for it. One mention to the paper about some illegal shit that RangeMan's supposedly done, backed up by Trenton's finest cop, Joe Morelli and your business would fall. I know you don't give a shit what people think of you, but I'm sure you care about what people think of your business. You sure you're ready to hear what I'm wanting you to promise?" She looked at me expectantly._

"_It seems more like blackmail than a promise," I said, my teeth clenched in anger. _

"_Call it what you want. You ready?"_

_I nodded once._

"_I don't want you holding back with her. No more of this 'your life is dangerous' bullshit. In case you haven't noticed, she ain't exactly free of her own crazies. Morelli ain't right for her. He don't deserve her. Hell, you don't deserve her sometimes. But you the best for her and she's happy with you. I want you to give this … this thing you two have a proper chance."_

It was the longest conversation I've ever had with Lula and she would constantly remind me of it whenever we were alone. I had a new respect for the woman, despite me disagreeing with her fashion choices. It was also nice to have someone on our side.

"What was going on with you two?" Tank asked quietly. He was drumming his fingers against the counter top, looking at me expectantly.

"Are you trying to tell me that you don't know? Because I don't believe that for a second."

"We all suspect and have our own theories. Manny thinks you two are secretly married. I guess he's lost $50."

"You guys are betting on us?"

Tank had the decency to look sheepish. "What did you expect? You claim her as your woman, yet you both deny having a relationship, and she spends more nights up here than she does at Morelli's."

"I don't know what was going on between us."

"Were you just fucking her?" I glared at Tank. "No."

"Then what were you doing? Sitting around braiding each other's hair?"

"I could kill you, you know that?" I growled at him.

"Yeah, but I know you won't."

"Yes, we were sleeping together. But it was more than that," I said quietly.

"Then what was it then?" Tank pushed.

What the fuck was I doing? Sitting around talking to my second in command about my feelings. That's what I was doing. I needed to leave this room and forget this conversation and look over client contracts.

"I have work to do," I said and then left the kitchen. Not turning back when he yelled my name.

I was sitting at my desk, bored out of my mind looking at client contracts. I needed to hire someone to do this for me. Maybe I could give it to Tank as punishment for this morning. When I'd walked onto five this morning, the whole floor went silent. Not the kind of silence I usually get; one full of respect and fear. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. They obviously all knew about last night, and probably about Steph. I could feel them judging me.

I was pulled out of my musings by the one person I really didn't want to see today. But I couldn't stop the smile appearing on my face when I saw her. She always pulled this reaction from me.

"Hi Ranger," she said as she stood awkwardly in front of my desk. Usually she would just sit down on the edge of it, or on my lap. She didn't know how to act now.

"Babe."

"You wanna go get lunch?" she was looking at the front of my desk, only occasionally glancing at my face.

"Sure. I'll come get you from your cubicle at 1300 hours," I said. "One o'clock, Babe," I told her when she looked at me blankly. She nodded and gave me a small smile before leaving my office. She hadn't even been engaged for a full 24 hours and she was already treating me different.

"You know, don't you?" she said quietly as she picked at her muffin.

I was sitting across from her at a small café we often went to. She didn't want to go to Pino's because it was full of cops and the Burg. And this place was far enough away from the Burg that her mother would never find out that she frequents it with me, and not Morelli.

"Know what?" I asked as I ate a forkful of my salad.

"Don't play dumb, Ranger." She levelled me with a glare. She was usually so relaxed around me. How can a stupid ring change so much about her? Not that you could call it a ring. It looked like he'd just bought her the cheapest ring he could find. Not that Steph would like a big flashy diamond ring, but the least he could have done was get her a real diamond.

"Of course I know, Stephanie." Her eyes turned sad at my use of her full name. "Congratulations," I said without a hint of emotion in my voice.

She scoffed at me. "Thanks."

"Shouldn't you be celebrating?" _Or sporting a 'just fucked' glow? _I found it interesting that she was missing that.

"Celebrating? I think my mother is doing enough celebrating for the both of us," she rolled her eyes and took a sip of her cream filled coffee. "Of course, Mrs Morelli isn't too pleased about it." She suddenly went pale at that. "Oh God, I'm going to be Mrs Morelli," she said quietly, obviously she wasn't supposed to say that out loud. She buried her face in her hands and let out a breath.

This was strange. From what I'd heard about Joe Morelli, most females in the Burg would kill to be in Stephanie's position right now. Burg girls had been writing 'Mrs Morelli' on their notebooks since they were old enough to write. Yet Stephanie looked like she was about to throw up at the thought.

"Aren't you pleased about it?" I asked as I sipped my water.

She looked at me with her head tilted, as if trying to figure out what I meant by that sentence. "I suppose."

"I suppose?" I repeated.

"What?"

"Babe, I would have thought you'd be a little more… enthusiastic about this," I said carefully, trying not to piss her off.

"It's just the next step in our relationship, I guess," she shrugged, as if she hadn't just agreed to marry someone. "Nobody else will have me," she mumbled, glancing at me quickly.

I knew what she was doing. She was waiting to see if I would tell her she was wrong. That I would have her. And she was right. I _would_ have her. I would have her forever and I knew that I didn't even need a ring to prove it to her. But I couldn't have her. I was still on contract with the government and even if I wasn't, the enemies I'd made wouldn't just stop because I was retired. My life was unpredictable and dangerous. I didn't want to leave her at home waiting for me to come back. I didn't want my death to hurt her.

Who the fuck was I kidding? My death would hurt her now. I'd let this go too far. I should just leave. Just pack my bags and run things from the Miami office. That way she can live happily with Morelli without me interfering. She obviously wanted this. If she didn't, she wouldn't have let him slide that bullshit ring onto her finger. She needs me out of her life.

I stood up and placed some cash on the table to cover both our meals.

"I'm glad you fixed it with him. I'm sure you'll be happy."

I saw her trying to hold the tears in as I drove away.

_A/N: Next chapter will be up shortly! Please follow if you liked it! All reviews are welcome :)_


	2. Chapter 2 - You're a Dick Bag

_A/N: Oh my gosh! Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed and added to favourites! A special thank you to Shelly222 for your review! I don't think that the rest of the chapters will be updated as quickly as this one was; I just already had this one written when I decided to publish. Please excuse the mistakes. _

_Standard disclaimer applies.  
Rating: T  
Spoilers: up to Takedown Twenty, just to be safe_

Chapter Two - You're a Dick Bag

Lester was standing in the doorway to my office and he looked pissed off. I'd been in Miami for six months. Eight months ago I'd been called away on a mission, three days after Steph's engagement. After two months of hell, I'd returned to Trenton, packed my bags, left Tank in charge and flown to Miami. I haven't talked to Stephanie for eight months. It's for the best though. This way she can live the life she's always wanted with Morelli without me around to confuse her.

_Who am I kidding? It's just so that I don't have to see her married to him. _

"Santos," I greeted him, hiding my surprise of seeing him here behind my blank face. I'd seen everyone from the core team at least once since I'd left Trenton, apart from Lester. He was the closest to Steph out of the core team. According to the rest of them, he's pretty pissed at me. So seeing him standing here in my office, with no warning that he was heading down here is a small surprise. "What can I do for you cuz?"

"You're un-fucking-believable, you know that?" he spat at me, the fury evident in his face and voice.

If anyone else had talked to me like that I would have terminated their contract and beaten the shit out of them for disrespecting me. However, Lester wasn't talking to me as my employee; he was talking to me as my cousin. He had travelled down here without my knowledge, so he hadn't used the company jet. He was in worn out jeans, white t-shirt and an open flannel shirt. He was obviously here for personal reasons.

"If you're gonna talk to me like that, the least you could do is shut the door."

"What? You don't want the Miami employees knowing how much of a dick you are? You don't want them to lose their respect for you like the Trenton office has?" he said louder. I saw a few heads turn at the sound of his voice.

"Santos," I said firmer.

"Fuck you."

I let out a frustrated breath and stood up. I closed the door behind him and sat down on the edge of my desk. "You come all the way down here to insult me?"

"No. Not initially. But then I got thinking about everything and I realised that the great Ranger Manoso, my big cousin who I looked up to since I was _fifteen,_ is actually the biggest dick bag in the history of dick bags." His voice was louder now and I was glad that my office was sound proof.

"Dick bag?"

"Yes. You've outranked dick status so now you are numerous dicks. A dick bag," he explained.

"Thank you for that explanation," I said sarcastically.

"Fuck. You."

"So what were you thinking about for you to come to this great realisation?" I asked, trying to get him back on track.

"She got married, you know. Stephanie. Last month. She married the cop and hated all of it. She hated the planning, the ceremony, the hype, all of it. But she went through with it. You know why?" I'd seen this rage in Lester before, but I'd never seen it targeted at me. After ten seconds of silence he talked to me in a deadly quiet voice. "Because you fuckin' told her to."

"I told her no such thing-"

"Oh, I fucking stand corrected," he held his hands up in mock defeat. "You're right, you didn't tell her to. You know what else you didn't do? You didn't tell her how important she is to you, how amazing you think she is and how she deserves a thousand times better than the cop!" he was starting to yell and use wild hand gestures that I'm sure he picked up from Stephanie. "You didn't tell her that you wanted her," he said in a quiet voice. I flinched at that. He noticed. Every night I ran over our last conversation. How I should have told her I wanted her. That I loved her. But it was too late now. She'd gone and married the cop. That in itself proved that he was much better down here, away from her, than in Trenton.

"Yeah, she told me. She told me all about how you said they'd be happy together and that you're _glad_ that they made up. She gave you a chance. She gave you the chance to step in and stop her from going through with the wedding. She gave you the _opportunity_," he spat at me.

_I'm an opportunist, Babe._

"And you let her marry him. You threw her away. You fucking _gave up on her! _That was your chance _Bat. Man._ That was your chance to have her. You told her you were a man of action or whatever the fuck it was you said. You didn't stop her from marrying him and that action spoke a million fucking words, _cuz_."

"I don't need you to tell me what I've done, Lester. I fucking know what I've done and I have regretted it for the past eight months. You thi-"

"Then why didn't you fix it?!" he was about half a meter away from me and yelling right into my face. He was pissed.

"Because I can't give her the life she wants," I said quietly. His brow furrowed in confusion.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he said at a much more normal level.

"I can't give her the Burg life. I can't give her a ring and kids and a dog and a white picket fence. She wouldn't be happy with me."

"Are you a fucking idiot?" My head shot up and I stared at him in shock. "Did you not listen to what I said not five minutes ago? She's miserable! She didn't _want_ to get married. Whenever Morelli mentions kids she starts to hyperventilate. Those few months when she was sleeping around with you were the happiest she's been all year. She doesn't want the Burg life you dumbass."

"How do you know all of this?" I asked when he finally sat down on the couch. I leant back against my desk and crossed my arms over my chest.

He shrugged and ran his hand through his hair. He was looking a lot calmer now that he'd called me a few more colourful names. "She hangs out with me a lot." I looked at him with my eyebrow raised. He sighed and carried on. "About a week after they got married, I noticed she was spending more and more time around RangeMan. She's been working nine to five most days because Morelli made her quit bond enforcement. She's just doing searches for us and helping Tank with paperwork. But she'd be getting here at 0800 and not leaving until about 2100 and I thought it was weird. So one day at 1700 I took her up to my apartment, sat her down, gave her a beer and told her to spill. Hell, she was a newlywed! She was supposed to be asking to leave early so she could go home and surprise the hubby with some sexy lingerie, not working massive overtime.

"After three beers she spilled everything to me. About what was going on with you before she was engaged, all the bullshit lines you fed her, the DeChooch deal, the vordo thing, Hawaii, what you fucking said to her in the café, how you left and didn't even tell her you were leaving. She told me everything she hated about the wedding and being married. How the thought of having kids with Morelli made her want to throw up," he closed his eyes and tilted his head back to rest on the couch. "You know she refused to change her last name? She's still Stephanie Michelle Plum. Wouldn't even hyphenate it," a small smile twitched at his lips as he said it. I have to admit, I liked that she hadn't changed her name. That way she didn't totally belong to him. But she didn't belong to me either.

"So she realised that she doesn't like married life. What's your point?"

"My point is that she never wanted to marry him in the first place. My _point _is that she said yes to him because her first choice didn't want her anymore," he lifted his head up to glare at me again. We were quiet for a minute, him still glaring at me.

"In all the time I have known Stephanie, I have never seen her do something she didn't want to do. She can't be forced into things, she's stubborn. So this idea you have in your head, that she never wanted this, is bullshit," I told him sternly. Stephanie's stubbornness was one of the things I admired about her. She wouldn't let anyone force her into anything. Not even me. I've tried many times to convince her to go into a safe house when one of her stalkers has got a little out of hand. Hell, I've even tried stopping halfway through sex, telling her I wouldn't continue if she didn't promise me that she'd go to a safe house. She got up and walked to the bathroom to have some intimate time with my shower massager. That woman cannot be forced into anything.

"That may be true for a lot of things. But she was being pestered by her mom, the grapevine was saying that something was wrong with her because Joe wouldn't marry her, Joe's Grandma Bella was even worse than usual. She agreed to marry him because her family had put it in her head that Joe was her last chance at happiness. She gave you the chance to prove them wrong. To prove that you could give her happiness. And you sent her back to the cop."

"You said the entire Trenton Office has lost respect for me," I said, looking at my feet. I would never show this kind of weakness to an employee, but I knew this was my cousin right now, not my employee.

"They all know what you did to her."

"Has she lost respect for me? Does she hate me?"

Lester looked -or should I say glared- at me for a solid thirty seconds before answering. "You don't fucking deserve her, man."

"I know."

"No you don't know," he yelled over me. "She still loves you. After everything you did to her, she still fucking loves you. She defends you in the break room when the men are bad mouthing you. I don't even defend you. Hell, I join in with bad mouthing the boss. You broke her heart. You ripped it out of her body and tore it to shreds. But she still loves you. You don't deserve her."

"Why did you come here, Lester? You've avoided every single core team meeting here for the past eight months. Why are you here now?"

"Steph's been hanging out with me a lot. Usually when she wants to avoid Morelli or had a run in with her mother. We watch movies, drink beer and talk. She said something yesterday and I wanted to tell you. But I wanted to do it in person so that you couldn't hang up on me when I started calling you a dick bag," he stared at me and then nodded to the guest chair in front of my desk. "Sit down."

"Are you telling me what to do in my own office?"

"Sit your fucking ass down," he said in a deadly quiet tone. I wanted to hear what she had said that was so important for him to see me in person, so I turned the chair around to face the couch he was sitting on at the back of the room and sat. "I asked her what she would do if you walked into my apartment right that second and apologised for everything you did. If you told her you loved her and that you wanted her. She said she'd want you to prove it to her that you wanted to be with her. I asked what she would do if you convinced her. She said that she'd divorce Morelli that second." He ran his hand over his face and looked at me again. "This is your chance right now. You said yourself that you regret what you did. If you still love her, you'll come back to Trenton with me, tell Steph that you want her and that you'll give her any kind of relationship she wants. I guarantee she won't ask for marriage or a white picket fence." Once he was finished talking, he stood to walk out of my office. Standing, I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"How do you know that I love her?"

He smirked at me. "If you didn't, you would have physically removed me from your office and wouldn't have listened to me venting all my hatred towards you. You're forgetting how well I know you, cuz. In fact, I know you so well that I know that you can be good for Stephanie, despite how much of an asshole you've been to her. I know you can redeem yourself." With that he walked out of my office, barking a few commands at men to get back to work and heading towards the elevator.

Would she really give me another chance?

_A/N: Please Review!_


	3. Chapter 3 - Rangeman Policy

**EDIT: I've been using Google Docs and I forgot that all the formatting would be weird so when I published it it was basically just HTML code. Sorry about that! It should all be fixed now :)**

_A/N: Hey guys! Today is the last day of my school holidays so updating is definitely going to slow down. I have the whole story planned out now so at least I know how this will be resolved! Why did I make my first chapter fic have such a difficult conflict?! If you have any suggestions though, feel free to let me know and I might be able to squeeze it in there if I like it! Also, MY LAPTOP DIED! It's dead. Completely dead. R.I.P laptop of five years. Is it pathetic that the thing I'm most sad about is that I lost what I had written of this chapter? Probably. But thankfully my brother is letting me use his laptop until I can afford a new one and I like this version of Chapter 3 more anyways. ALSO! If you happen to be reading my collection of Babe oneshots: 'You Just Love My Ass', I am stuck for ideas! I want to write another one but can't think of any good ideas. So let me know what you want a oneshot of in the reviews for that story and I'll try to update before the end of the month! As always, thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter! I'm glad no one was offended by the name of the chapter!_

_Standard disclaimer applies_

_Rating: T_

_Spoilers: up to Top Secret Twenty One (finally got around to reading it!) just to be safe_

Chapter Three - Rangeman Policy

I had arrived in Trenton. Lester had stayed in Miami for a week, doing the core team member duties he'd been neglecting by refusing to see me. We'd sat down and talked at the end of every day. Not just about Stephanie, but about family too. By trying to distance myself from Stephanie, I had also distanced myself from my family as well. I was scared that if I went to Newark to visit, I would then convince myself to go to Trenton to visit Stephanie. I'd missed my niece's 5th birthday that I had completely forgotten about. I'd have to make that up to her. Lester also made a point to remind me how stupid I had been in regards to Stephanie. I loved her more than anything and I had just thrown her away. I thought I had been doing the right thing. Apparently not.

I walked onto the control room on five and the whole floor went silent. I could feel every set of eyes on me and knew they were all planning my death. The Trenton office thought of Stephanie as a little sister, there's an unwritten policy here that anyone who hurt Stephanie would need to be taught a lesson. I could only imagine the amount of employees ready to teach me a lesson for hurting her. I ignored their stares and continued walking towards the back of the control room, where her cubicle was.

The plan was to sit down next to her and see how it went. Play it by ear. I didn't know if she would ignore me, slap me, hug me, kiss me. I could and would take anything she threw at me. She had every right to attack me for what I'd done.

I knew every employee was watching me as I sat down next to Stephanie in her guest chair. She didn't look at me, she was doing a search. She looked the same as when I'd left. Same crazy brown curls I used to bury my face into when she slept on me. I used to wrap my finger round the ringlets as she talked to me about nonsense. Her slim figure was gorgeous as always. I assumed from the empty Tastykake wrappers that she still had the same unhealthy diet. The walls of her cubicle were covered with funny gifts from the guys. '_Rangeman's Best Researcher', 'Sexiest Employee',_ a '_one free booty call'_ coupon from Lester, a photo of her with the core team -minus me- at Pino's, a photo of her and her friends at her hen night. I noticed there was an absence of wedding photos or...anything that would indicate Morelli had a presence in her life. I also noticed the photo of us at Point Pleasant that she made me take with her, I was kissing her cheek and she had a bright smile on her face. I remembered that day. She was down because her latest attempt to capture a skip had left her covered in garbage -again- and the grapevine wasn't being kind to her. So I took her out to Point Pleasant, bought her gelato, and we stayed in one of the safe houses I have there. It was the best weekend of my life. I was surprised that my photo was on her wall unscathed. I was expecting some pins stuck on my face, or maybe a crude drawing, but there was nothing. I was also surprised it was on her wall at all.

"I've had to replace that photo at least once every week since you left," she said quietly. She didn't turn to look at me, but reached into the drawer next to her desk and handed me a stack of photos. I flipped through them. They were all the same photo. Most of them had crude drawings over my face, the rest had carved my face right out. Each one was signed by one of the guys. The only ones that were missing was Tank, and a few of the newbies.

"I never knew my men were so artistic," I said sarcastically and placed the photos on her desk.

"I'm going to stick them up in the break room."

She didn't seem at all phased by my presence. "How was the wedding?" I asked casually.

"It was lovely. The happiest day of my life," she said unconvincingly. The way she said it made me think that maybe it was her automatic response to that question. She was supposed to be beaming and telling me all about how perfect it was. Instead, she sounded like the subject bored her.

"I'm sorry I missed it."

"How was Miami?" she asked just as casually.

"Lonely," I said in complete honesty. "I missed you."

She spun around in her chair, finally looking at me. Her eyes were full of anger. _You leave for eight months, ignore all contact and you come back and tell her you missed her? You fucking dumbass._ I knew what she was going to do before she did it and I didn't try to move. The sound of her open palm connecting with the side of my face could be heard across the silent control room. I had to admit, I had expected from the second I'd sat down.

"I deserved that," I said quietly and rubbed the side of my face.

"Yes, you did," she said. I could hear the sadness in her voice; the tears bubbling below the surface.

What she did next, however, caught me by surprise. She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. I froze momentarily, before wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her over to my chair, settling her sideways across my lap. I could hear her sniffling into the crook of my neck as she clung to me. "I'm so sorry, Babe," I said into her hair. My heart physically hurt when I found she didn't smell the same. She didn't smell of herself, or my Bulgari; she smelt of Morelli.

"You should be," she said as she clung to me.

We stayed there for a minute or so. I heard a few people walk past, slowing as they passed her cubicle. "If I let go will you slap me again?" I asked, trying to keep my voice light and joking. In reality I was actually worried she'd slap me again.

"No, I think once is enough," she said as she released me, but stayed sat on my lap.

I placed my hands either side of her face and used my thumbs to wipe her tears away. "Why are you crying, Babe?"

"I missed you so much. And you're such an asshole." It was strange for her to say these things while sitting on my lap.

"Can I take you out for lunch?"

"Sure."

"I'll meet you at the cafe at 1300 hours. Is that okay?"

_Since when have I asked if it was okay? Since she belonged to another man, asshat._

"I'll probably be able to get another search in by then," she smiled, went back to her seat and got back to work.

I stood up, and walked towards Tank's office. I opened the door, ignoring his glare, and sat down on his couch. That was strange. There was no screaming, no cursing, just a slap in the face. Once she'd got that out of the way she'd hugged me and happily accepted my invitation to lunch without any argument about Morelli not liking it. It's like she didn't see me as a threat to her marriage. Does that mean she doesn't see me as anything more than a friend taking her out to lunch? Well, I suppose that's what it is. I am just a friend, because she's married now. She obviously still thinks I don't want her.

_Well no shit. You've had one conversation with her since you told her you didn't want her. It's gonna take more than a muffin and a lunch date to convince her she's wrong. Dick bag._

"You gonna sit there staring into space all day?" Tank's deep voice cut through my inner monologue. "Was there something you wanted?" he asked when I looked up at him.

"I noticed you didn't deface the photo of me on Stephanie's desk."

He smirked at me."Nah, it's my turn this week. I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet."

I raised my eyebrow.

"I made a roster."

"Of course."

"I didn't know you were coming back," Tank said, leaning back so far in his chair that I was worried it would break. He goes through at least five chairs a year.

"I like Miami, but it's not the same a Trenton."

"Did you come back for the city or the people?"

"I know what you're getting at and you can keep your nose out of it," I warned him.

"I don't know what you mean," he feigned innocence. "How long are you here for?"

"Permanently."

"And what if she rejects you? Which she really should have done the second you sat your ass down in her guest chair," he said, not keeping his nose out of it like I'd suggested. "You okay, man? You're cheek's lookin' a little red," he chuckled.

"Go fuck yourself," I threw a pen from the front of his desk at him. "I'm here permanently," I repeated.

"Man, she ain't gonna forgive you that easily. I'm not sayin' that she won't, but you hurt her. She hasn't been the same. But what she has with Morelli is secure. It's a safety thing. She ain't gonna give that up because you're back and showing some interest in the forbidden fruit."

"She's not forbidden fruit. She's the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with."

"I'm glad you finally figured that out. It fuckin' took you long enough. You should have seen Lula when she found out you'd left, man. Came chargin' in here demanding to see you, calling you all sorts of shit. Fuck, I love the woman but Christ she was terrifying. Yellin' some shit about going to the paper. I have no clue what she was on about."

"About a year ago Lula said she'd help hide mine and Steph's ...relationship… from Morelli, but only if I didn't hurt her. She said that if I did, then she'd go to the paper about some of the 'grey area' things we do here. It would ruin Rangeman," I told him. "I have to admit, I'm surprised she didn't."

"I think she was prepared to," Tank told me. "Had an interview set up and everything. The only reason she didn't was because Stephanie talked to her. Lula said that she told her that if it wasn't for Rangeman, half of us wouldn't have jobs. No one wants to hire a guy with a criminal record or gang tatts, but Rangeman does and gives them an honest job and a nice paycheck. It gives people like us a chance to redeem themselves," Tank paused and played with a pen in his fingers before continuing in a quiet voice. "I've never heard someone stand up for us like that. Ever. Let alone a white girl from the Burg. She's special and I won't let you hurt her," he finished that with a glare.

"I'm not going to hurt her."

"You've said that before and then you hurt her. You of all people should know that we don't take well to people that hurt Stephanie."

"Are you going to call me to the mats?" I asked sarcastically.

"Sure am."

"You can't do that."

"Yes I can. I'm sure there'll be a long line of people waiting to teach you a lesson."

"Fuck you," I said without much venom behind my words. I knew I deserved this punishment, but I wasn't going to take it without a fight.

"Ranger, you can't expect to come back here and expect everyone's respect. You lost that when you treated the woman we all love and care for like she was nothing but a convenient fuck."

At that, I stood up and left his office. I didn't need him to tell me what I'd done. I was well aware of what I'd done. I was currently trying to fix it. And I didn't treat her like a convenient fuck. I treated her like the woman I love had just agreed to marry another man.

I have made a lot of mistakes in my life. I have done a lot of things that I regret: stealing a car at fifteen, getting involved with gangs, many things I did during my time with the Rangers. But none of them compare to all the things I regret with Stephanie; sending her back to Morelli after the DeChooch deal, telling her I love her 'in my own way', calling her entertainment. However, I regret nothing more in my life than letting her marry Morelli. It was obvious that she was miserable. Her entire manner had changed since I'd left. Her shoulders were slumped as she'd walked towards the cafe, her feet shuffling on the ground. Her eyes lacked the emotion they once held. God, I loved those eyes. I used to be able to read all her emotions as they flashed across her face. Her eyes were dull. Any emotion she allowed onto her face was fake and rehearsed, it seemed. I could tell because it never met her eyes. Letting her go was supposed to make her happier. She was supposed to get married, have kids and be happy. She was supposed to forget about me. Seeing her now in front of me in the cafe we used to frequent, she didn't look happy.

"Are you going to fire me?" she asked quietly as she picked at her muffin.

"What? No. Why would you think that?"

"Well, last time we were here you gave me your blessing and then left for eight months. Now you've come back, asked to have lunch with me in the same cafe...nothing good could come of this."

"I'm not going to fire you, Steph."

"Then why are we here," she was looking at me with those damn dull eyes. It was like she was not only hiding her emotions, but guarding them from the people around her. As if, if I couldn't see them, I couldn't hurt them.

"I wanted to have lunch with you," I said and sipped my water. She raised an eyebrow at me. "And I wanted to apologise."

She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'm listening."

_Come on, soldier. Time to man up._

"I'm sorry for being such an ass last time we were here. I was hurt an-"

"_You_ were hurt?" she looked at me disbelievingly.

"Yes, Stephanie, I was." The shock of me using her full name flashed across her face for a second, before she covered it up. "Those months when I was with you … I hadn't felt that good for a long time. I felt like I could actually have a slightly normal life one day...with you."

"Ranger, we hardly had a relationship," she interrupted. Those words didn't sound like her own. The way she said them was monotone and like she'd rehearsed them. Where had my Stephanie gone? She used to be so happy and full of life. She used to be so stubborn and confident. She looked so defensive here and full of hatred.

_You did this to her._

"That's bullshit and you know it. You had more of a relationship with me than you did with Morelli. You spent more nights with me than you did him an-"

"A relationship involves more than sex," she interrupted again.

"You're right. And what we had was more than sex. I took you out on dates, if you remember. Hell, I even went shopping with you. Multiple times. That was an experience, allright." I had hated shopping. She'd drag me from store to store and I'd just be holding her bags. Who knew a woman could buy so many kilograms of clothes. It was like a workout.

"If you didn't like it then why did you do it?" she spat at me.

"Because it made you happy," I replied with no hesitation. She had no response to that. I was trying to keep my voice even and not yell at her. "You used to complain that Morelli never did anything like that for you. So like I said, it sounded like you had more of a relationship with me than you did with him."

"You've never called what we had a relationship before," she responded quietly, her eyes glued to the table in front of her.

"I've had eight months to think about it and now I can see it for what it really was."

She sat there quietly, staring at her muffin.

"As I was saying; last time we were here, I said some things that I regret. I was hurt. And I think I had every right to be. You'd gotten engaged to Morelli, when we'd had this... relationship for almost a year. You treated what we had like it was nothing. Like it didn't affect you at all. However, what I didn't have any right to do, was to say the things that I said… or didn't say."

"_Didn't_ say?" she questioned.

I let out a long breath and watched my fingers wipe away some condensation on my water glass. Get it over with, Carlos. Be a man and admit your mistakes. "I didn't say that I wanted you," I looked up and met her eyes. "You gave me the chance to say it, to stop you from going ahead with the engagement, and I didn't take it. Instead I was an ass and left for eight months. I am so sorry, Steph. I should have told you. I should have told you that I wanted you and fought for you," I watched her face closely as I said it. Hoping for some emotion.

"I accept your apology," she said, her eyes had tears in them but I couldn't tell if they were from joy or sadness. "But I also have some apologising to do," she continued.

I nodded and sat back in my chair, watching her as all her emotions flashed across her face. She wasn't guarded anymore. She was letting me see everything.

"I'm sorry that I threw away our relationship. You're wrong; I didn't think it was nothing. What I felt for Joe is nothing compared to how I felt for you. It's just that… at the time my mother was going on one of her rampages over Joe being my last chance at happiness and how no one else would marry me. The Burg thought something was wrong with me because Joe didn't want to marry me. When it's all you hear, wherever you go, you start to believe it. So when he asked me to marry him, I said yes," she shrugged. "It was to prove the Burg wrong, that there's nothing wrong with me. Then I learnt pretty quickly that I don't need marriage to be happy. In fact, it's not all it's cracked up to be. But I guess I'm stuck with it now," she shrugged again and continued to pick at her muffin.

I was about to respond when my phone signaled I had a text. I checked it quickly and cursed. Medical emergency at Rangeman.

"Babe, I'm so sorry. I have to go, medical emergency at Rangeman. This conversation isn't over." I stood up and threw enough money to cover both meals onto the table. The action brought back a sense of Deja vu from the last time we were here and I wondered if she too had felt it. She stared at the money on the table for a few seconds before looking up at me.

"You're not going to leave this time, right?" she asked lightly with humor in her voice.

"Not this time, Babe," I said and kissed her hair. "You're stuck with me now."

She gave a breathy laugh and waved at me as I walked out of the cafe.

"Brown," I barked at the company medic when I got to the gym where he'd told me to meet him. "Who's hurt?" I looked around and noticed a lot of employees in the gym for 1400 hours.

"You. Soon," he said. At that moment all the men stood up from their respective exercise equipment and turned to face me.

"Did you guys rehearse that?" I couldn't help the small smile playing on my lips.

"Get on the mats, Ranger," Lester's voice said from behind me. God forbid I add a bit of humor to my life before my own men kill me. I sighed and removed my shirt, weapons, boots and socks. There had to be at least fifteen men in here, all waiting to 'teach me a lesson' for hurting Stephanie. I know for a fact that I can take on all of them, but not directly after each other.

"Okay," I said when I was standing in the middle of the mats. "Who wants to teach me a lesson first?"

Both Tank and Lester stepped forward.

Fuck.

_A/N: Please review and let me know what you think! This chapter was a pain in the ass to write and I'm not 100% happy with it. But I didn't think it was going to get any better. Remember to give me some ideas for oneshots for my other story You Just Love My Ass! Or any ideas for this one, if you prefer!_


	4. Chapter 4 - Tank the Graffiti Artist

_A/N: I have been hiding this chapter from you guys for a week because I don't really like it that much...however, I finished my last benchmark exam on Friday and am currently hungover so I thought I might as well get it over with a post this chapter ;) I decided to do this chapter in Stephanie's POV but I really struggle to write her (anyone who's read my other story already knows this!) but I thought I'd give it a shot anyways. Also, what started out as a three to four chapter story has now (after planing the whole thing out) has become maybe seven chapters. As always, all feedback, negative or positive, is welcome and greatly appreciated. How am I to improve without constructive criticism? If there is anything you guys want to happen, let me know and I'll see if I can fit it in there!_

_Standard disclaimer applies  
Rating: T  
Spoilers: Up to Top Secret Twenty One, just to be safe_

Chapter Four - Tank the graffiti artist

I was sat on the sofa next to Joe. The cold, half eaten pizza was on the coffee table, Bob eyeing it hungrily. The game was on and Joe was thoroughly engrossed in it. Don't get me wrong, I love baseball, but I had a lot on my mind. Like, for example, Ranger was back. Holy shit. After his visit to my cubicle, I wasn't too worried. There was probably some reason for him to be back that he wouldn't tell me about. I didn't think much of it. I mean, sure. I slapped him and cried on his lap but can you really blame me? The asshole made me feel like nothing but a convenient fuck after he left. What? I get married and I'm not even worth his friendship anymore? I'd convinced myself that was all I was to him, a convenient fuck, and tried to move on. But one can't just 'move on' from Ranger. I got so wrapped up in deciphering the 'man of mystery' that every glimpse he gave me into his soul felt like the greatest reward. I fell in love with him and I never even realised it until the Scrog incident. Now his presence is making it hard for me to continue my 'getting over Ranger' mission. Just seeing him today made me feel something I haven't felt since he left. It's hard to say what that feeling is. It reminds me of the feeling of excitement I used to get when my crush would walk into the classroom. But Ranger isn't my crush. And I'm not a school girl. I am a married woman and Ranger is my best friend and boss.

After our discussion at the cafe, I was even more confused as ever. He was hurt? Why had I never thought of that? I had just assumed that he was showing his true colours and didn't actually care about me. Like I said, a convenient fuck. But now… everything he said was a shock to me. I always thought Ranger acted as more of a 'boyfriend' to me than Joe ever did. He took me out for dates and liked to snuggle with me after wild and passionate sex. I, of course, never told this to Ranger because I never truly knew where I stood with him. When I explained this to Valerie, she told me the very line I'd repeated to Ranger, and to myself in the mirror when I imagined him ever returning: "We hardly had a relationship."

I wish he could have stayed, but of course, duty calls. When I returned to Rangeman it was quiet and there was a significant lack of employees on the control room floor. There was probably a bunch of break ins and maybe a takedown. Plus at least three for the medical emergency. The floor hadn't filled back up by 5 o'clock so I offered to stay a little longer but Zero sent me home. I wish I'd seen Ranger before I left. I wanted to finish our conversation. I sent him a quick text.

_Is everything okay? Who was hurt?_

"How about Masie?" Joe said from next to me, eyes still focused on the game.

"What?"

"If we have a girl. Masie Morelli?"

"Morelli? I'm Plum," I pointed out.

"Yeah, well we'll get those papers to change your name once you're pregnant."

I rolled my eyes. I was not having this argument with him again.

"Shouldn't we at least be trying for a baby before we start thinking of baby names?

Joe looked over at me with his bedroom eyes. "Want to go upstairs and make a baby?" A year ago, that would have turned me to goo. Now, it made me want to roll my eyes. This isn't how a wife should feel about her new husband's bedroom eyes.

"Not particularly."

"What?! We haven't had sex in two weeks, Steph! I have needs."

Oh, Jesus.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him, kissing my neck. "Come on, Cupcake. You know it'll be good."

"Joe, I'm not in the mood," I said, pushing him away lightly. He wouldn't let me and continued to kiss his way up my jaw.

"You're never in the mood," he said as he tried to put me in the 'mood' by kissing me. Really? Do guys have any idea how women work?

"I've just been busy lately. Please, stop it." He pulled away from me and gave me a curious look.

"What's so bad about having sex with me?" he asked.

"What?!"

"You've been avoiding me, Stephanie. I know that you work nine to five at RangeMan but you leave early and get home late. I'm not stupid." When I didn't respond he, as always, jumped to conclusions. He let go of my waist and I could see his Italian temper rearing it's ugly head. "Are you sleeping with one of them? Is it Santos?"

"No! I'm not sleeping with any of them. How could you think that?!"

"Well you haven't exactly been the most faithful girlfriend."

"And if I remember correctly you haven't been the most faithful boyfriend." Yeah, he admitted to cheating on my with Terry Gilman, I pretended to make a fuss about it and eventually forgive him but in all honesty I'd been boinking Ranger at least once a week at that point. From then on it only became more frequent. I'd never told Joe about Ranger and I. He knew about the DeChooch deal, the vordo thing, and definitely Hawaii, but I never told him about, what I have now found myself referring to in my head as, our relationship.

"But I'm not working seven to nine when I'm only meant to be working nine to five, Stephanie."

"Joe, I'm not cheating on you."

"Yeah, well you've lied before."

This was bad. I could almost see the 'Italian temper' meter about to blow. He'd dragged his eyes away from the game and his beer was on the coffee table. His eyes were trained on me, watching my facial expressions intently. Not good. Come on, Plum. Time to convince your husband that you're not cheating on him. You're not in a good situation here. You haven't had sex with him in two weeks and he's right that you've been avoiding him. There is no other choice here.

"Joe," I purred his name and moved closer to him. His eyes narrowed, obviously not trusting my sudden change in attitude. "You know I would never cheat on you again," I said as I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck and pulled myself onto his lap. "And if me walking down the aisle to marry you isn't enough proof of that, then I don't know what else I can do." I was straddling his lap and talking softly into his ear. His eyes were firmly glued to my breasts and I could feel the tension in him leaving. I kissed him deeply and tangled my fingers in his hair.

"I thought you weren't in the mood?" he asked after we broke away, his hands moving up under my shirt.

"I changed my mind," I said and kissed him again. He picked me up, put his hands on my ass to support me and I wrapped my legs around his hips while I continued to kiss him.

The sex was good. It followed the same routine as always and I don't think he realised that I almost screamed Ranger's name as I came.

It was Joe's day off today and I woke up to my alarm in his arms. I reached over, switched my alarm off and got out of bed to start my morning routine. When I came downstairs to make my breakfast, Joe was leaning against the kitchen bench wearing a pair of sweatpants and his morning bed hair. He had his coffee and my cell phone in his hands and was frowning at the screen.

"I get that we're married and everything, but I would have thought my text messages would still be private," I said and snatched my phone from him. The frown on his face didn't disappear as he looked at me so I looked at the screen to see what was troubling him. It's not that I have anything I want to keep from him on my phone -not since I deleted all my conversations with Ranger after he left-, it's just that I value my privacy. I read the text message that was open from, would you believe it, Ranger.

_No fatalities._

No fatalities?! Wow, thanks for elaborating, Ranger. 'No fatalities' with Ranger can vary from a simple broken leg to a gunshot wound two millimeters from the heart.

"What are you frowning over?" I asked Joe, scrolling through my messages to make sure I hadn't missed any text messages in my attempt to delete Ranger from my life.

"Ranger's back," he stated.

"Yes."

"And he's texting you."

"Yes. We were talking yesterday and he had to leave because someone got hurt. I was checking to make sure they were okay."

"Did you not think to mention that to me?"

"It never came up," I shrugged and opened the fridge in search of breakfast. I still wasn't a domestic goddess- much to my mum, Mrs Morelli and Joe's dismay- so our fridge mainly consisted of microwavable food.

"Stephanie, the man you cheated on me with returning to Trenton a month after we get married is something you _make_ come up in conversation." I'd been up for half an hour and he was already mad at me. Why did I think this marriage would work?

"Nothing is going to happen between me and Ranger. He's back for business."

_Liar. _

"I would feel much better if you'd told me about it."

"I didn't think it was that important. He comes and goes. That's how he's always been," I shrugged it off and hoped he wouldn't push the topic any further. Just my luck, he decided to open his mouth yet again.

"He's dangerous, Stephanie. He's got screws loose."

I spun round to look at him, hands on hips."You know what? I'm not getting into this right now. I'm having breakfast at work." I walked out of the kitchen, grabbed my purse, keys and phone and left the house.

I was sitting at my cubicle doing my searches when Ranger walked past towards his office. I noticed he wasn't moving with the same effortless gracefulness he usually does. Instead he looked... Stiff? He looked like all movement hurt and that wasn't like Ranger. Ranger came back from a mission with new bullet wounds and was back working after a day and didn't look the slightest bit out of sorts. I decided to investigate. Maybe we could grab lunch.

I knocked on the door frame of his office and stepped in. "Hey Rang- oh my god what happened to your face?!"

"Wow, Babe. You really know how to boost a guy's self esteem," he said sarcastically and went back to his work. I had never seen Ranger this bad. Maybe that time he was shot in my apartment and was bleeding out on my floor. But, other than that, he'd never looked this bad.

Without thinking -or maybe I was kind of thinking but not with my brain- I walked over to him, sat down on his lap and brushed his hair away from his face. At first, he stilled at my actions. I realised I was sitting on him and refused to be embarrassed by it. I'd come to a few realisations last night while Joe was asleep next to me. Even after all the shit Ranger has put me through, I still love him more than I love Joe. I also think that Joe doesn't love me as much as he claims to. I try not to compare Joe and Ranger, but I continuously find myself doing so. Ranger making love is something I'll never forget. He is passionate and loving and loves to tease me and make me squirm before his own release. Joe makes sure I cum but really it's all about his own release. I'm just better than his hand.

"What happened to your face?" I asked in a much calmer voice as I moved his head with my fingers lightly on his jaw.

He had a cut and slightly swollen lip and a bruise on his cheekbone. His knuckles, I discovered when he put his hand over mine, were cut and bruised also. He moved my hand off his jaw and I noticed I was pushing on yet another bruise.

"Remember the medical emergency yesterday?" I nodded and a small, barely there smile appeared, but his eyes were sad, defeeted. "I walked into the gym and most of the employees were in there waiting for me. I spent a good three maybe four hours sparring"

"What?! Why would they do that?!"

"Why do you think?"

"I had nothing to do with this!" My anger was starting to flare. How dare he blame me for what his employees did to him. How dare he assume I knew about this. I started to get off his lap. He made a noise of complaint and stopped me from moving away with his hands on my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"That's not what I meant," he said and tugged on a stray curl.

"Then what did you mean?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. I refused to forgive him that easily.

"I don't know if you're aware of this, but there is an unwritten rule at Rangeman that if any harm comes to you, the person responsible is to be punished. There was a long line of people waiting to punish me."

"They had no right!" I jumped up before he could grab my hips to keep me there. "I can deal with the defacing of your photo but they can't just go and beat you up.I can take care of myself. Why do all of you just assume that I need protecting? Yes, I was hurt, but not physically. You can't fix these things by beating the crap out of every person who made me cry, Ranger."

_Men!_

Ranger stood up from his chair and stood in front of me, wisely not touching me while I was bordering on Rhino mode. Smart man.

"In case you haven't noticed, we're not the best with emotions. The only way we know how to protect someone we care about is by teaching those who hurt them a lesson. It's the way I'm... all of us... are wired, Steph."

"Well you all need re-wiring," I said and glared at him.

"You and I both know it isn't that easy."

I studied his face for a minute longer. "Did you even clean up your cuts?"

"Once they were done I was so tired that I crashed the second I got up to seven," he shrugged.

"You should get Bobby to give you something. You look in pain."

"I don't think he'd give a shit that I was in a bit of pain." At my puzzled look he chuckled and pulled me closer to him with a light hand on my hip. "Who do you think gave me half of these injuries, Babe?"

I reached up to touch the bruise on his face again. "Do they really hurt?"

"I've had worse." He shrugged it off and smiled down at me. "I deserved it."

"Yes, you did," I smiled up at him, deciding to let it go. He smiled back. I suddenly became very aware of our close proximity. He was looking at my lips, I involuntarily licked my lips. I forgot the effect Ranger had on me. I wanted nothing more than to kiss his perfect lips and have that feeling that always came from kissing him. I hadn't met anyone else who gave me that feeling, not even Joe. "I should uh… get some work done. I just came to make sure you were okay," I said, removed myself from his arms and ducked out of his office.

I sat down in my cubicle and let out a big breath of air. He'd only been back for two days and I'd already sat on his lap and almost kissed him. I needed to get myself back under control. What would the Burg say if they found out I was fooling around with Ranger? No. I was married. I wouldn't let this happen again.

I realised it was Friday and Tank still hadn't defaced the photo. Yes, I knew about the roster. They put it up in the break room and called it the _'graffiti roster'_. It didn't take me long to figure it out. I checked the photo for the first time that day and, sure enough, there was small writing above Ranger's face.

_He loves you. But he needs to work for you. - Tank :)_

I decided to leave it up there.

_A/N: You guys have no idea how hard that chapter was to write. I'm still not 100% happy with it but I had to update! Please review! _


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